Vending machine



vsmpnw MACHINE Filmuai 16,1925

Lum-A To all' whom t concern.'

"Pateate Api. 11e-)25.

UNITEDl STATES ,PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN r. mmm, or onxoeof-ILLINOIS, AssIeNon 'ro onnnfmmzmaa or a cmcaeo,ILLINOIS.

'VENDING MACHINE.

Application mea my 1e, 192s. senat ma 639,252.

Be it.4 known that I, JOHN F. KREMA, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of-Chicago, county of Cook, ,and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

4My invention relates tovending machines,

A and has reference more particularly to a coin controlled dispensingmechanlsm therefor which is adapted at intervals to discharge an extraarticle from the Vmagazine upon inserchine containing my improvements;

tion of a coin which normallyroperates the machine to ydispense a singlearticle therefrom. j

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a specialinducement for stimulating` interest in the operation of a machine ofthis character; to provide a vending 1machine which occasionallyvfurnishes an extra -or free package; to provide a simple'structurewhich may be applied to various vending machines for furnishing anarticle free to the purchaser at predetermined intervals; and toconstruct the mechanism so that'it may be 4optionally adapted to operatein the usual manner 'or to furnish a free package at intervals asdesired.V

On the drawings:

Fig. 1 is4 a front view of `a vending ma- Fig. 2 a vertical sectional'view therefrom on the line2-2 of Fig.\1;"

Fig. 3 a rear view of the dispensing mech- `anism taken on the line 3-3of Fig. 2; and

Fi 4 a detail view of the mechanism whic serves to discharge the freepackage.

I have" shown my invention applied to a vending machine of the typewhich is shown in the application of `Harry W. B arson, led March 21,1921, Serial No. 453,906, .although the invention vis not necessarilmachine of that type, but 1s capable of application to other types ofvending machines. y 4

, Referring to the drawingsthe reference numeral 1 indicates the vendingmachine cabinet which has lan upright magazine 2 at the fro-nt lleadingto a receiver 3 at the bottom of the cabinet,'into which 4articles aredeposited from the magazine.l A pair of star lwheels 4--5 which areconnected together by the spindle or sleeve 6, are journaled in the sidewings 7 of a supporting frame .2,3 at the' rear of 'the magazine, sothat the -erly interlock with the teet limitedto a Y the magazine downinto the receiver 3. Two holdlng pawls 9 and 10 respectively areprovided for the star wheels 4 and 5 instead of the. one pawl as shownin the Barson application abovel referred to, these two pawls 9 and 10being of like form and secured together by the sleeve 11. The distancebetween the pawls 9 and 10 isy such that theyl cannot bev simultaneouslyengaged with the l wheels 4 and 5, but byyshifting the combined pawlstructure 9--10--11 laterally, the pawl 9 may be engagedwith the starwheel 4, alt

which time the pawl 10 'is moved away from engagement with the starwheel5, and the pawl 10 may be moved to a position to engage the star wheel5, .at which time the pawl 9 is moved laterally so' it will not engagethe star wheel 4. For supporting the v awl structure and permittinglateral ad- ]ustment thereof, bearin pins 12 are'- secured to the sidewings of the rame23 which supports the operating mechanism, and thesepins proj ect into the opposite vends of the tube or Asleeve 11, saidpins being preferably rovided at their outer ends with .threadeportionsv which engage the side Wings 7 and are locked in position bythev lock nuts 13. A spring 14 which has one end fixed to a side wing 7,has the other end connected to oneof the pawls'9 so as to throw theupper hook-shaped extremities20 `o`f these pawls toward the star wheels4 and 5, a stop plate 15 being formed on the frame 23 to engage one ofthe pawlsvto limit the throw of the latter, so that said pawls do notoperate' beyond the point reired to prop- `of the star wheels 4 and 5. i

A coin chute 16 having a suitable coin inlet at the upper end projectsdownwardly at the rear of t e cabinet and termlnates above a coinreceptacle 17 and the pawl structure l 9--10-11 has a rearwardlyprojecting arm 18 interposed between the lower extremity of the coinchute 16 andthe receptacle 17, so that the impact of each coin as itdrops downthe chute 16 against the arm 18, rocks the pawl structure andAreleases the star wheels 4-5, which latter are then rotated r b theweight of the articles in the magazine.

ach of the pawls 9 and 1Q has a cam portio'n 19,V at the lower end which1s adapted to which be thrown up between two adjacent teeth of the starwheels when the holding tooth 20 is released, such cam serving toprevent excessive throw of the star wheels and insure engagement of theholding tooth 20 wlth the next succeeding tooth after each release.

The two star wheels 4 and 5 are exactly the same except that the starwheel 4 has one tooth, which is indicated at 21, mutilated, theupperface of said tooth vbeing rounded or inclined as indicated, so thatit will not interlock with the pawl tooth 20, and as a result of thisconstruction, when the pawl structure is shifted to the posltion shownin Fig. 3, wherein the pawl 9 is adapted to engage the star wheel 4 andthe pawl 10 is out of engagement with the star wheel 5, each insertionof a coin in the chute 16 effects a single step movement of the starwheels 4 and 5 and discharges a single package at a time from themagazine 2 until the tooth immediately preceding the mutilated tooth 21engages the tooth 20 of the holding pawl. Upon the next insertion of acoin in the chute 16 and release of the holdinv pawl from engagementwith such prece ing tooth, the star wheels 4 and 5 advance one step andeject a package, whereupon the pawl 9 comes back into engagement withthe mutilated tooth 21. Because of the inclination of the upper 4face ofthe mutilated tooth 21, the hook 20 of the pawl is unable` to interlockwith the mutilated tooth and is forced out of engagement therewith,whereupon the star wheels 4 and 5 advance another step and discharge asecond package from the magazine. The tooth 20 is then returned intoengagement with the next tooth following the mutilated tooth 21 andarrests the operation of the star wheels 4 and 5, after which a singlepackage is discharged at a time until the pawl tooth 20 again comes intoengagement With the tooth preceding the mutilated tooth 21, and upon thenext insertion of a coin an extra package is deposited from themagazlne.

The star wheel 5 is not provided with a mutilated tooth andconsequentlywhen the pawl 10 is shifted to engage the star wheel 5 and the pawl 9shifted out of engagement with the star wheel 4, the machine operates inthe normal manner. The star wheels 4 and 5 then operate only one step ata time without any extra movement for furnishing a free-package atintervals.

For adjusting the pawl structure 9- 10-11 sothat the pawl 9 engages thestar wheel 4 or the pawl 10 engages KYthe star wheel 5, as desired, ashifter 22 is mounted on the frame A23 by means of the screw 24, latterserves as a pivot, and this 22 has a rearwardly extending lating thefinger grip 25 for facilitating the adjustment of same. The upper end ofthe shifter 22 is bifurcated as shown and straddles the lower end of thepawl 10, so that the pawl structure is moved axially on the pivot pins12 b swinging the shifter 22 on its pivot 24. dVhen the shifter 22 hasbeen adjusted to either of the required positions, it may be. locked inthe adjusted position by tightening the screw 24.

While I have shown and described my i11- ventionin a preferred form, Iam aware that various changes and modifications ma)v be made withoutdeparting from the principles of my invention, the scope of which is tobe determined by the appended claims.

I claim'as my invention:

1. In a vending machine, the combination of a magazine for articles tobe dispensed, a star wheel projecting intothe magazine .for controllingthe discharge of articles therefrom, a coin controlled escapementmechanism normally operable to advance the star wheel one step for eachcoin of a certain denomination that is inserted in the machine andoperable 'at predetermined intervals by a single coin of the samedenomination to effect a two step advance of the star wheel.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a magazine forarticles to be dispensed, a star wheel for controlling the discharge ofarticles from the magazine, and a coin controlled" escapement mechanismfor the star wheel, said star wheel be- .ing provided with a mutilatedtooth for affording a two step movement of the star wheel atpredetermined intervals.

3. vIn a Vending machine, the combination of a magazine for articles tobe dispensed, a star wheel mechanism for controlling the discharge ofarticles lfrom the magazine, a coin controlled escapement mechanism forcontrolling the operation of the star wheel mechanism, and adjustingmeans for regucontrol of the star wheel mechanism by the escapementmechanism so as to vary the number of articles discharged from themagazine by coins of the same denomination. l 4. In a vending machine,the combination of a magazine for articles to be dispensed, a pair ofstar wheels for controlling the discharge of articles from the magazine,and a coin controlled escapement mechanism adapted to be selectivelyengaged with the star wheels for controlling the operation thereof, oneof said star wheels vided with a mutilated tooth for affording an extramovement of the latter when the escapement awl is co-operating` with theteeth of the atter star wheel.

JOHN F. KREMA.

being prov

